Connecting with Community Provides Hope – 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
Part 2 of 4 in the series “A Time for Hope!”
We’re glad you’re here today as we continue our series on hope.
Hope is a vital part of life. Once you start losing hope your life becomes more challenging. You’re more easily tempted to give in and to give up. Things that wouldn’t normally derail you begin to erode your sense of well being.
People who lose hope stop trying. They stop trying in their relationships. They stop trying to maintain good health. They stop trying in their finances. Losing hope can even cause you to give up on God.
A lot of bad choices are made when people begin losing hope. They say to themselves “What’s the use?” “What’s the use to keep trying with my marriage? What’s the use of continuing to follow Christ and going to church when I still fail miserably at times? What’s the use of trying to make my children act right – they still misbehave? What’s the use in trying to get my family and friends to come to Christ? What’s the use staying morally pure with so many people around me living how they want to? What’s the use living with integrity on the job when many others are not doing so?”
Asking yourself “what’s the use” questions is a sign that you may need to have your hope re-energized. Lost hope makes you want to stop trying. That’s why we vitally need hope. Real hope – not imaginary hope.
We don’t benefit from the lies all around us that people tell themselves to keep going. They tell themselves that hope is in the bottom of a bottle of booze or in a needle or in a string of illicit sexual relationships or in material gain or success or popularity. That’s not where hope is. Millions of people could tell you – they’ve tried that stuff and it doesn’t provide hope. We need to know the truth about hope. That’s why we’re looking to God’s Word.
Today we’re going to look at what the Bible says in Paul’s first letter to the church in the Grecian city of Thessalonica. Paul and his missionary team had started the church there but they were run out of town by a riotous mob after only three weeks of proclaiming the Good News about Jesus. The new believers asked Paul to leave town for his own safety. (Acts 17) So he writes this letter to let them know he’s still thinking about them. What he says in this passage is pregnant with implications about hope.
17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. (Circle “intense longing to see you) 18 We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us hope (circle that question, “what gives us hope?”) and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 (NLT)
Paul asks the question in verse 19, “What gives us hope?” That’s precisely the question we all need answered.
We were reminded of one answer last week when we read what Jesus said about persistent prayer providing hope. Today we want to see another basis of hope – getting connected and staying connected to a community of faith. The stronger my ties to Christian community the greater my hope!
That was Paul’s answer to the question “What gives us hope? He told the Christ followers in Thessalonica – “It is you!” Paul said that his connection to others through Christian community raised his horizon of hope! Being around others that shared the same basic values bolstered Paul’s hope. And it will exponentially increase our hope as well. When he got around others who were following Christ it encouraged him. It reminded him of spiritual truth. It motivated him to keep going. Interacting with the community of Christ followers was one of the things that infused his life with hope!
Paul tenaciously believed in building hope through community. You can see this theme not only here but also throughout his writings. Paul was a people person. Everywhere he went he made friends and was intent on keeping those relationships vibrant. He thrived on interaction with others and this sense of community gave him hope. It kept him going – it kept him motivated. And Paul faced a lot of situations that called for hope.
Paul put up with a lot of troubles in life. He had violent enemies trying to kill him. He was beaten within an inch of life on several occasions. Several other times he had to flee a city because people sought to kill him. Thessalonica was one of those cities. His enemies even followed him to the next city. He fought cyclones on the sea, which led to shipwrecks, which threatened his life. He did battle with Satan continuously for the lives of those who needed Christ. He was arrested and put in jail, and he suffered hunger and need – and much more. Yet every time you read his letters you see that he is filled with tremendous hope! Nothing got him down. That’s why we should pay close attention to his answer to the question “What gives us hope?” This man knew what he was talking about!
Here’s a man who lived and breathed hope. He wasn’t overcome by life’s challenges but he overcame them by his tremendous hope! In this brief passage of Scripture he fills us in as to why he was so hopeful!
This Scripture speaks of THREE HABITS THAT WILL INCREASE MY HOPE. Habtis that, if established in my life, will cause me to have a more positive outlook no matter what kind of battles I’m facing.
Here’s the first habit I can form that will make my hope stronger.
HABIT #1: MAKING THE EFFORT TO SPEND TIME WITH OTHERS IN COMMUNITY.
Look again at the 17th verse of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
“Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.” 1 Thessalonians 2:17 (NLT)
Circle that phrase, “We tried very hard.” You can tell that Paul passionately believed in spending time in the company of other Christ followers. He believed in putting himself out – in making strenuous efforts to experience community. It was a vital habit of his life.
If you want your hope to be strong this needs to be a habit in your life. You don’t wonder whether or not you and your family are going to church regularly. It’s a habit.
Did you know this was a habit with the Lord Jesus? The Bible says,
“Jesus traveled to Nazareth, where he had grown up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue, as he always did, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16 (NCV) Circle that phrase, “as he always did.”
You say, “Pastor Brian sometimes I have a difficult time making it to church. It just takes a lot of effort to be here sometimes.” I understand. But I found out a long time ago as a young Christ follower, that if I make it a habit it isn’t as difficult. There’s no question where I’m going to be on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. Our kids growing up never asked whether or not we were going to church. They knew. It was a family habit. You say, “That’s because you’re the pastor.” No it’s not! It’s because I’m a follower of Christ and I need Christian community – I need the local church to fan the flames of my hope. God knew when He created the church family that we need to get together habitually to fan the flames of hope for one another!
Paul knew that isolation is not good for your hope.
Some of the most hopeless people are isolated people. The worst kind of punishment in prison is solitary confinement. Why? Because God programmed us with the need to live in community. When you and I are unable to spend time with others our hope gauge reads closer to empty than to full. When we lose contact with others we’re more likely to become despondent, discouraged and depressed. Isolation can even affect our health. It’s been known to be associated with high blood pressure, heart disease and other ailments.
The Good News is that we don’t have to experience the loss of hope brought on by isolation. We needn’t live lives of quiet desperation. We may have lost family and friends by death or geographic relocation but there are always people who love Christ that want to be our family. That’s one of the major things the local church as a Christian community is all about!
Paul said, “we tried very hard to come back.” How hard do you try to connect with other Christ followers? Paul believed in making a personal effort to maintain contact with others. You and I will not maintain hope without making an effort at maintaining community!
Like Paul we need to “try hard” to stay in touch with other followers of Christ. It takes effort but the investment pays off in large dividends of hope.
Nicky Cruz was once a man without hope. He was the leader of one of the toughest gangs in New York City. His Satan-worshipping parents abused him brutally, so he grew up a hardened young man void of love and full of hate. In his autobiography he says, “I wanted to do to others what my mother did to me,” Nicky says. “I used to feel good when I hurt people.” But he also honestly admitted…“Privately, when I was alone, loneliness became like a seductive woman that crawled inside my chest and ate away at me. I was there twisting and fighting; I felt so lost.”
Only two people saw the desperate condition of Nicky’s heart. One was a psychologist.
“He told me about five times. ‘There’s a dark side in your life that nobody can penetrate. Nicky, you are walking straight to jail, the electric chair, and hell. There’s no hope.’”
The other person who saw the desperate condition of Nicky’s heart was a pastor named David Wilkerson. Wilkerson had been pastoring in rural Pennsylvania when God called him to the violent streets of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. He saw a picture in LIFE magazine of two teenage boys convicted of murder in New York City and God placed a burden on his heart to minister in the inner city. He risked his life to tell people like Nicky Cruz that there is hope!
One day Wilkerson was out street preaching. “I heard his voice: ‘God has the power to change your life.’ he said. I started cursing loud,” says Nicky. “I spit in his face, and I hit him. I told him, ‘I don’t believe in what you say and you get out of here.’”
Nicky never expected what he heard Wilkerson say next.
Wilkerson replied, “You could cut me up into a 1000 pieces and lay them in the street. Every piece will still love you.”
Nicky says, “It did damage. Good [damage] in my brain and in my heart. I began to question, and for two weeks I could not sleep thinking about love.” So Nicky and his gang showed up at one of Wilkerson’s rallies. One by one, they gave their lives to Christ.
It was the crucifixion – Jesus’ death on the cross -- which grabbed Nicky. “I was choked up with pain, and my eyes were fighting and tears became to come down and more tears and I was fighting and then I surrendered,” says Nicky. “I let Jesus hug me, and I let my head rest on His chest. I said I’m sorry. Forgive me, and for the first time, I told somebody ‘I love you.’”
I came here today to tell you that there is hope in community for you too! But the catch is – it’s up to you. It’s up to you to be like Paul and like David Wilkerson and like Nicky Cruz. It’s up to you and me to accept the hope that is offered to us by connecting with Christ and with people who have Christ’s hope. It’s up to you and me to make the effort to go to others, to try and share Christ’s hope with them. It’s up to you and me to connect with and remain connected to the body of Christ – the church – Christian community – in order to establish and maintain our hope. It’s up to us to make connecting with community a habit.
As we build up the community of Christ – our own hope increases. Paul said, “we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again”
You and I have got to follow that “intense longing” for community that God put in our hearts. Invest your efforts spending time building the community of Christ followers and you will see the hope of others and your own hope increased!
The second habit I need to get into in order to build my hope, as seen in our Scripture text, is this:
HABIT #2: NOT GIVING UP ON COMMUNITY THOUGH SATAN OPPOSES ME.
The way that community is tied to hope is so very important that it carries great weight in the spiritual world!
What the Bible says in verse 18 is very insightful.
We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 1 Thessalonians 2:18 (NLT) (Circle that phrase, “but Satan prevented us.”)
Satan knows how very powerful community is to your hope. Have you ever wondered why Satan battles you about coming to church? He knows the greater your connection with the body of Christ the greater your hope! So he constantly throws obstacles into the road to try and keep you from sharing the hope of community. He’ll tell you any lie he can to keep you out of church on Sunday or Wednesday or to keep you from starting or joining or participating in a small group. He’ll do anything to keep you from inviting others to your home or accepting their invitations, or being involved with others socially in Christian community.
He has various tricks. His biggest deception tool is flat out lies. Satan will tell you every lie in the book to get you to slowly pull away from other Christ followers. He wants nothing more than to see you disconnected from Christian community. Jesus said this about the devil:
“He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44b (NLT)
Satan tells lies to disturb the peace between believers. He lies and tells you that you can’t get along with others. He convinces you that others don’t really love you, that they have it in for you, that they don’t want you around. He lies and tells you that you need to go to another church where people aren’t so messed up. Do you know what’s wrong with that lie? All churches are made up of imperfect people.
He tells you that other people are weird and they say hurtful things and they do hurtful things and you just need to slink into your own little cocoon and protect yourself from getting your feelings hurt. “I don’t want to go to church today. Someone might snub me or ignore me or someone might embarrass me.
Let me tell you where that stinkin’ thinkin’ comes from. He has various names: Lucifer. Beelzebub. Satan. The devil. He will do anything and everything to cool our love for others. He tries all the time to break up the unity of the family of God. That’s why the Bible gives us this responsibility.
Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace. Ephesians 4:3 (NLV) Circle those two words, “Work hard.”
Sometimes its hard work but like most hard work it bears good fruit. We don’t have to agree on everything in Christian community but we do have to work hard to get along with one another.
Some may object, “But how can I get along with so and so, they are so different from me. I just don’t like some of the things they do or say. How do we stay in tune with one another?” There’s only one way – standard pitch.
My guitar up here on the platform and the piano my wife plays and the bass guitar Jeff plays, are all tuned to standard pitch. We don’t try to tune ourselves to one another. We are in tune with the standard. The only way we can live harmoniously together in Christ is to stay in tune with Christ – He is our standard pitch! Here’s the way the Word of God puts it.
“If we live in the light as He is in the light, we share what we have in God with each other.” 1 John 1:7 (NLV)
When my fellowship with Christ is what it should be – my fellowship with other believers is what it should be.
Don’t give in to the devil by neglecting your connection with other Christ followers because your hope is damaged when you do.
Another way Satan hinders our connecting in community is by telling us that we’re too tired or too busy to connect with others. “I’m just too tired to go to church today. I’ve just got too many other things to do.”
According to a recent survey, “59% of formerly churched adults left their church because of ‘changes in their situation.’” When I read that I thought, “changes in their situation” meant, changes in their life, or their job, or their health, or even their church.” But no, “The top specific situation changes were ‘too busy to attend’ (19%) and family/home responsibilities (17%). Next were, moved (17%), work (15%) and got divorce/separated (12%).” (Faith & Trends 3-4/07)
Why shouldn’t we believe Satan’s lies that we’re too busy or too tired to come to church? Look at what the Bible says.
23We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. 24We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. 25Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer. Hebrews 10:23-25 (CEV)
The habit of meeting for worship maintains my hope and I also encourage other people’s hope by my habit of faithfully and consistently attending the worship gatherings of the church where my faith can lift them up.
So my second habit of hope: I must not give up on community even though Satan opposes me. It is actually the fact that Satan opposes me that tells me this is a good thing – a necessary thing! If church attendance didn’t mean so much the devil would leave me alone about it. But God tells me in His Word:
“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (NLT)
Here’s the third habit that builds my hope as suggested by today’s Scripture.
HABIT #3: VALUING COMMUNITY HERE BECAUSE IT IS VALUABLE HEREAFTER.
In verse 19 Paul says this, “After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you!” 1 Thessalonians 2:19 (NLT)
We need to place importance on the things that will be important for eternity. I’m going to spend eternity with God and with other members of the Christian community. That’s what will matter in heaven. That’s what should matter to me now!
Have you seen the movie Antwone Fisher? If you haven’t I recommend you rent the video and watch it. It’s the true story of a young man abandoned at birth by his mother and then raised in abusive orphanages, foster homes, and reform schools. Denzel Washington adapted the story into a movie that was released about five years ago.
After his 18th birthday, Antwone Fisher joins the navy where his anger towards life brims to the surface. After several fights, he is ordered to undergo counseling. Psychologist Jerome Davenport (Denzel Washington) encourages Antwone to find his family to begin healing. After several phone calls he reaches one aunt and uncle in Cleveland, who escort him to a dilapidated apartment complex where his estranged mother lives. A suspicious and aloof woman answers the door. Upon realizing that Antwone is the child she gave up at birth, she retreats to another room and sits down on a soiled and worn couch and cries silently.
Antwone asks for some explanation as to why she never came to rescue him or why she never sought him out. She cannot answer. She simply stares ahead, not daring to look at him, tears rolling down her expressionless face. He gently kisses her on the cheek as if to say, "I forgive you," and walks away devastated and feeling helpless and alone. His mother remains on the couch and stares at nothing, making no effort to respond. A despondent Antwone Fisher leaves the apartment with his questions unanswered and rides back to his aunt’s house with his uncle.
As he exits the car, his slow gait betrays the loneliness of a man with no hope of a meaningful connection to anyone. As Antwone enters the front door, however, his world changes. He is met with a chorus of cheers from 50 plus relatives, all waiting to meet Antwone for the first time. There are children, couples, cousins, uncles, and family friends, all smothering him with hugs, slaps on the back, and beaming smiles. One cousin tells him his name is Edward and says, "I’m named after your dad," and an older aunt squeezes his cheeks. Antwone takes it all in, overwhelmed.
The hallway stairs are filled with kids holding up signs with his name scribbled next to crayola-sketched smiley faces and rainbows. He is then led into the next room where a grand feast is spread across a long table. The table is overflowing with chicken, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and every other possible dish. The room is prepared for a party. For the first time in his life, he is being adored. For the first time, he belongs.
As the clamor quiets, an elderly woman sitting behind the table knocks to get Antwone’s attention and then waves for him to come over next to her. With slow, deliberate moves, she raises her arms, grabbing his hands and then caressing his face. A slow tear runs down her cheek, and with a raspy voice that seemed as if it was mustering all the strength it possessed, she whispered the redemptive invitation: "Welcome."
Imagine being welcomed in that way. Imagine being welcomed home like that—if you can picture that kind of love, that kind of joy, that kind of acceptance, then you can picture what the family of God is like. It is a place of acceptance and joy and above all – a picture of hope. No matter how you may have been abandoned by this world and the people in it. The church – the Christian community – is a place of warmth and love and welcome!
If you can picture that you can begin to imagine the reception that awaits everyone who is welcomed into the presence of God when we leave our earthly home and go home to be with Jesus. In order to get to the welcome there you have to accept the welcome here.
